Our home right now is a safe haven for babies, especially the ones who need hospice care because of their diagnosis. But! we're certainly not the only ones in this world who love on kiddos like our Charlie or who are hoping for future opportunities to do so in a more tangible way.
I would like to introduce you to a sweet friend of mine.
Her name is Sarah Beth Gulke.
This young lady has been tireless in her efforts to advocate for the unborn. She and I were kindred spirits on that front before any other.
In the past year; however, we've crossed paths, simply put, because God brought me into closer contact with her. I've learned and been witness to the suffering she's endured with Transverse Myelitis.
She's a nineteen year old who's been knocked out physically with the pain and nerve damage she's endured and sustained because of the assault on her nervous system for years now. It might have permanently crushed Sarah's spirit also, but this has not happened.
My husband and I have both remarked about how Proverbs says "Even a child will be known by what he does." Children can be known as warriors, or brats. Those who face their uncertain future with hope and grace or those who whine and complain endlessly about how unfair life is to them.
(She sent me the photo this morning to show she's doing her part to get the tests necessary to help the doctors figure out what's up with her. When I saw her fighter stance I laughed and thought, "That's perfect. No room in this deal for wimps.")
Sarah has been knocked down and knocked out and by God's grace, still continues to get up and fight on the days she's able to do so, and she lays in bed and prays for others on the days she's not. I've found her remarkably receptive to the lessons I've learned the hard way through my own journey to the brink of death and back again. I live with constant reminders of how fragile I was once and how very quickly my body could deteriorate and be back there again if I didn't follow the treatment plan my doctors at Sanoviv prescribed and Dr. Whitcomb www.livelongmd.com
helps me keep pace with here in WI. The messages I've listened to at www.desiringgod.org on suffering and the sovereignty of God have been listened to by myself and Sarah and helped tremendously to redeem so much of the *nothingness* we fight with when prayers seemingly go unanswered.
Sarah and I both know first hand what it means to have hope deferred and our hearts made sick with grief when yet another doctor says they can help, then throws up their hands in futility and says, "I'm sorry. I guess I can't."
In July, because of some marvelous provision which has come in, Sarah is scheduled to go to www.sanoviv.com for treatment.
I've been to this hospital. I know first hand how wonderfully the doctors are able to use the wisdom they've been granted to bring people back from the clutches of death. How much better to go when you're not so broken!
This is a photo of myself when I arrived at Sanoviv four years ago. In a wheelchair, no strength to walk or even stand in the shower. I was on heavy duty narcotics, and many other drugs to treat symptoms of my autoimmune diseases. I'm not in the same place now, not hardly.
The monies for Sarah to go to Sanoviv, where she'll, God willing, find out what is causing the ongoing nerve pain and damage, are not quite all in.
We're having a Worship and Praise night on June 17th at 7p.m. to
*Number One - be thankful to God for all the ways He's broken Sarah and me for greater good. I've said before and firmly believe this; stained glass windows are all the more beautiful for having been broken and shaped and fitted together again in a way which is vastly more valuable than the individual colored glass was to begin with.
*Number Two - we're going to pray for Sarah and her mom, Sherry, as they go to Sanoviv. This journey is not just about Sarah. Not. By. A. Long. Shot. God could've healed her long before this if there wasn't someone yet who needs to meet this young lady and be impacted by the suffering she's experienced. We reach more people in our pain than we ever do because our lives are so sunny. God has promised to work all things together for good and I have come to see my own visits to multiple hospitals, doctors and clinics as missionary journeys. I have unmistakably come into contact with hurt and dying people because I'm sitting in a chair next to them receiving IV therapy. I would not have come across their path and been able to minister the way I did without having my body be afflicted the way it is. When God says He works ALL things together for good. He means ALL and not just the good things.
*Number Three - there'll be an opportunity to tangibly get behind Sarah and help support her monetarily in this endeavor. We're having them go on faith Sarah can be helped, but we've all seen first hand evidence that the therapies offered there truly work.
If you're able to make it on Friday, we'd love to see you there. If you can't physically come, then please join us in your prayers. We're expecting God to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we could ask or think.
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